


When the World Ends

by unsaltysaltines



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, I promise!, Nobody tells Nicole anything ever, but with a happy end, major character sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-17 07:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16091354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsaltysaltines/pseuds/unsaltysaltines
Summary: “You said earlier that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me.” Nicole hears her voice shake as she tries to keep her emotions under control.“I meant it, Nicole, I really did.”Some serious post-3x10 angst in preparation for the finale.





	1. Apocalypse

**Author's Note:**

> A million thanks to [@blankagenda](https://twitter.com/blankagenda) for letting me babble at them incessantly about Nicole Haught and for letting me ask them a billion and seven ridiculous questions.
> 
> In case anyone was curious, the title does come from the Dave Matthews Band song of the same name. I apologise for nothing.

Waverly is quiet when she returns from the Gardner house. There’s something new, something _different_ , lurking behind her eyes when she comes barreling through Nicole’s front door, looking like she’s seen a ghost.

 

“Baby, wha-”

 

Nicole’s question is cut off as Waverly crashes her lips against Nicole’s, straddling her lap at the kitchen table, where Nicole was trying to decompress over a cup of tea.

 

Nicole stiffens at the surprise display of affection from her girlfriend, but quickly melts against her. Their bodies come together as Waverly wraps her arms around Nicole’s neck, not-so-subtly grinding her hips against the redhead’s as she pulls their bodies flush.

 

A quiet groan escapes Nicole’s lips as Waverly’s tongue teases her own lips apart, and she’s quick to deepen the kiss.

 

“Baby…let’s go upstairs…please,” Nicole breathes, breaking off breathlessly. She’s still confused, but she can’t ignore the feeling deep in her core any longer. It’s been weeks since she and Waverly have had the time or the energy to do more than collapse into bed at night, curled up beside one another, completely exhausted.

 

Waverly gets up off Nicole’s lap, grabbing her hand and pulling her up out of her chair with one hand and starting to unbutton her blouse with the other. Nicole practically has to run to keep up with the brunette as she pulls her in the direction of the stairs.

 

As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, Waverly stops abruptly to capture Nicole’s lips again in a series of sloppy kisses, as well as finish unbuttoning her shirt.

 

“Let me help,” Nicole murmurs. She makes quick work of the last couple buttons and helps Waverly shed the floral blouse, revealing a lacy white bra Nicole could _swear_ she’s never seen before.

 

“You like it?” Waverly asks with a wink. An honest to god _wink_. “It’s new.”

 

Waverly’s voice drops, and Nicole feels her knees go weak. In one fluid motion she scoops Waverly up off the floor and pins her against the wall, kissing her hungrily. Waverly wraps her legs tightly around Nicole’s waist as the taller woman ascends the rest of the stairs.

 

“You’re wearing too much,” Waverly grumbles against Nicole’s mouth as Nicole sets her down on their bed. She tugs up the hem of Nicole’s t-shirt, and Nicole pulls it over her head, revealing that she’s wearing nothing underneath.

 

Waverly’s eyes darken and she wraps her arms around Nicole’s neck, pulling her down onto the bed on top of her. Without breaking their embrace, Waverly flips them so she’s straddling Nicole once again. She runs her hands over the exposed skin of Nicole’s abs, her heart racing.

 

Nicole can feel the heat still building between her legs as Waverly peppers kisses along her sternum.

 

“You feel so good, baby,” Waverly hums against Nicole’s chest, eliciting a groan from the other woman.

 

“Waves…” Nicole groans, propping herself up on her elbows. She reaches up and puts a hand on Waverly’s shoulder, stopping her ministrations.

 

“What’s wrong?” Waverly asks, immediately rolling off Nicole’s lap and stretching out beside her.

 

“Nothing’s _wrong_ …” Nicole says slowly, rolling on to her side to meet Waverly’s hazel eyes. She traces along Waverly’s jawline with her knuckles, and the gentle touch sends a shudder down Waverly’s spine. “Something just…doesn’t feel right.”

 

All the confidence Waverly had just a moment ago comes crashing down around her and before she knows it the tears are falling hot and fast down her cheeks.

 

“Waverly, what’s _wrong_?” Nicole exclaims.

 

“I’m s-sorry,” Waverly stammers, her voice hitching.

 

She desperately wants to tell Nicole everything she learned at the Gardner house, but she doesn’t even know where to begin. How is she supposed to break the news to Nicole that the only way to save them all is for her to sacrifice herself?

 

Especially when Nicole is lying next to her, her eyes wide with nothing but love and concern for Waverly’s well-being.

 

“Baby, whatever it is…it’s going to be okay. Whatever’s going on, we can figure out a way through it. Okay?”

 

Waverly just nods and lets Nicole comfort her. She doesn’t volunteer any more information, and Nicole doesn’t press for more.

 

When Waverly starts to doze off in Nicole’s arms, Nicole gently prods her awake.

 

“Baby, I _know_ you don’t want to sleep in those pants,” Nicole mumbles, half asleep herself. Pulling her t-shirt back over her head, Nicole rolls out of bed and takes in the sleepy brunette sprawled out on the bed. She watches as Waverly stretches out like a starfish, her face scrunching up adorably as she does so.

 

Nicole finds a set of Waverly’s pajamas and tosses them in her direction. They hit Waverly square in the face, interrupting her stretch, and Nicole bursts out laughing as she scrambles to get the offending fabric off her face.

 

Waverly tosses her jeans at Nicole in retaliation, laughing weakly at the other woman’s reaction.

 

Nicole changes into shorts and crawls under the covers beside Waverly. She’s quiet for a while, just drinking in the other woman. Something seems off with Waverly, but Nicole can’t quite put her finger on what it might be.

 

Everything surrounding Bulshar and his cult has been taking an extra toll on everyone, but no one more so than Waverly. Nicole chalks her strange behaviour up to Waverly simply overworking herself, and decides sleepily that Waverly deserves a night out.

 

“Hey, Waves?” Nicole asks quietly.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Let’s go out this weekend.”

 

Waverly’s heart sinks.

 

“Nothing too crazy!” Nicole says, seeing something odd, like a mix of anxiety and fear, pass over Waverly’s face. “Just…dinner out or something. Maybe in the city?”

 

Waverly swallows the confession bubbling inside her and leans in to kiss the redhead. She closes her eyes and lets her lips linger, breathing in everything _Nicole_.

 

“Date night sounds _perfect_.”

 

***

 

_The next morning, Waverly is up before the sun rises. She gently untangles herself from Nicole’s arms, careful not to disturb the sleeping woman._

 

_If Nicole wakes up, there’s no way Waverly will be able to go through with it._

 

_The redhead shifts in her sleep at the loss of Waverly’s weight. She scrunches her face slightly in displeasure, and the wrinkle in her brow is so cute Waverly feels her heart skip a beat._

 

_She kisses that furrowed brow, and watches as Nicole’s face relaxes. Before she can talk herself into simply getting in the Jeep with Nicole and taking off for the coast, Waverly forces herself to get dressed and slip out._

 

_***_

 

Nicole wakes up to the sound of someone pounding on her bedroom door.

 

“ _Haught!_ ”

 

_Wynonna?_

 

“I know you’re in there!” Wynonna pounds on the door one more time before she decides to just forego formalities and burst right in.

 

Nicole blinks sleepily, and the first thing she notices isn’t Wynonna’s presence, but rather the lack of Waverly’s

 

“Waverly…?” Nicole mumbles.

 

“Yeah, Waverly!” Wynonna grabs Nicole by the shoulders. “She’s _gone_!”

 

Suddenly _very_ awake, Nicole practically falls out of bed and rummages for her clothes.

 

“Earp, what the hell is going on?” She exclaims.  

 

“My baby sister is heading into the murder woods to take over her father’s _throne_ , _that’s_ what the hell is going on!”

 

Wynonna’s face is white as a sheet. She paces back and forth, mumbling a whole monologue to herself that Nicole can’t hear over the pounding of her own heart.

 

“Hang on, what do you mean, _take over_?” Nicole asks as she follows Wynonna downstairs.

 

“I’ll explain everything in the truck, now let’s _go_!”

 

As Nicole is pulling on her jacket, she catches sight of an envelope on the coffee table with her name on it in Waverly’s handwriting.

 

Nicole’s heart drops into her stomach as she opens the envelope and pulls out the note inside.

 

_Nicole,_

_I’m so sorry I couldn’t say goodbye._

 

_Take care of Wynonna._

 

_I love you so much._

_-Waverly_

 

The world starts spinning around her as Nicole tries to catch her breath. Hot tears spring to her eyes as the impact of those few sentences slams into her like a freight train.

 

Nicole doesn’t realize her knees have given out until she feels Wynonna’s arms under her armpits, trying to keep her upright.

 

“ _Nicole_!” Wynonna barks as she helps Nicole into a sitting position. “Look at me!”

 

“What’s she-Wynonna, _where is she_?”

 

Nicole can’t breathe. It feels like someone is slowly tightening straps around her ribcage and she’s getting dizzy from the lack of oxygen.

 

“Nicole, _look at me_ ,” Wynonna repeats, softer this time.

 

Nicole looks over at the other woman, desperate for answers.

 

“Look, if I have anything to do with it, she’s not gonna go through with this stupid plan, okay? But we have to get _going_ if we’re gonna stop her.” Wynonna helps Nicole stand up because her legs are still shaking. “I’ll explain _everything_ , I promise.”

 

True to her word, Wynonna fills Nicole in on everything that Kevin told her and Waverly. She notices Nicole’s face going whiter and whiter beside her, and hopes she doesn’t have to stop to revive a passed-out sheriff.

 

“So how do we stop her?” Nicole asks weakly. She doesn’t see how they possibly could-- clearly, Waverly has made her choice, and it doesn’t sound like there’s another way out.

 

“Jeremy’s trying to track down Mama. She went looking for-”

 

“Julian.” Nicole finishes breathlessly. “He can take his _own_ place, and he can leave Waverly the hell out of it.”

 

“She just has to _trust me_.”

 

There’s panic creeping into Wynonna’s voice. Nicole remembers Wynonna’s face when she burst into Nicole’s hospital room with the Widows’ antivenom in hand.

 

_Waverly, what did you do_?

 

She’d done what she needed to then, and Nicole is terrified that she’s doing what she feels she needs to now.

 

Nicole and Wynonna burst into the police station practically at a run. Jeremy beat them to the office, and he’s already hard at work. Nicole excuses herself and unlocks her office. She closes the door behind her and collapses into her desk chair, Waverly’s note still clutched in her hand.

 

She pulls her phone out from her pocket and dials Waverly’s number with shaking hands, hoping she’ll pick up.

 

Waverly answers on the third ring.

 

“Baby?”

 

“Waverly, how _could you?_ ” Nicole cries, any and all self-control she has immediately flying out the window at the sound of Waverly’s voice on the other end.

 

“Nicole, _please_ …please don’t be upset.” Waverly sounds like she’s on the verge of tears. “This is the only way we can stop Bulshar!” 

“Jeremy and Wynonna-”

 

“They’re just in denial!”

 

“ _Damn it,_ Waverly!” Nicole’s voice comes out a half-yell, strangled by the sob that forces its way out. “What about _our_ life together?” She says, quieter.

 

She hears a sniff on the other end. Waverly’s crying too.

 

“I wanted so badly to spend the rest of my life with you.”

 

Nicole presses a hand to her mouth as her whole body shakes with sobs. She opens her top desk drawer and pulls out a small black velvet box. She opens it and stares at the ring nestled within.

 

“Waves, where _are_ you?” Nicole asks, straining to listen for any background noise that might give her away.

 

Waverly pauses a moment before telling Nicole.

 

“Can…can I come be with you?”

 

_If this is the end, at least we can be together_.

 

Nicole doesn’t tell Wynonna where she’s going, just that she “needs some air.” She feels a little guilty speeding out of the station parking lot with her lights & sirens on, but she quickly remembers that nobody’s gonna report the Sheriff to _herself_.

 

***

 

Waverly’s Jeep is parked backwards at the lookout, and Nicole can see the back is wide open.

 

On one of their first dates, Waverly had taken Nicole to this very spot. The afternoon had been freezing cold and so sunny that if you looked at the snow wrong, you’d go temporarily blind if you weren’t careful.

 

_“Where_ are _we?” Nicole asked as Waverly slowed the Jeep, parking it backwards, facing the road._

 

_“Come with me,” Waverly said, hopping out and opening the back up wide. She came around to the passenger side door and opened it for Nicole._

 

_“Can I take this ridiculous thing off yet or what?” Nicole asked, gesturing to the bandanna Waverly had tied around her eyes to keep their destination a surprise._

 

_“Not yet.”_

 

_Waverly pressed a soft kiss to Nicole’s forehead and helped her out of the car._

 

_“Waves, this doesn’t feel super safe…” Nicole said tentatively, feeling herself slide just a little as she tried to get her blindfolded footing._

 

_“_ Nicole. _” Nicole could practically hear the pout on Waverly’s face. “Do you really think I’d let you fall? I’m trying to_ woo _you, not_ kill _you.”_

 

_She had a point._

 

_Nicole took Waverly’s mittened hands and let her lead them a few steps away from the parked Jeep._

 

_“Okay, you can take this off now.” Waverly giggled as Nicole swiped at the blindfold frantically, eager to get it off her face._

 

_Nicole blinked a couple times, her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden influx of late-afternoon sun._

 

_The view in front of them rendered Nicole speechless._

 

_“Best view of the Rockies in all of Purgatory,” Waverly said with another kiss. “C’mon, let’s go sit.”_

 

_“Sit where…” Nicole’s question is answered when she sees the open back of the Jeep._

 

_Waverly had laid out a whole pile of warm blankets, and swiped a bunch of throw pillows from her couch at the homestead to create a nest in the back. Waverly hopped in and reached for Nicole’s hand, pulling her in close._

 

_“Baby, this is…this is incredible.” Nicole murmured, the term of endearment slipping off her tongue like they had been dating for months._

 

_“It’s my favorite spot in town.” Waverly snuggled into Nicole’s side amd Nicole wrapped an arm around her. “I’ve never brought anyone out here before.”_

 

_Nicole tilted Waverly’s chin up and kissed her deeply._

 

_“Thank you for sharing this with me.”_

 

***

 

“I should’ve known I’d find you here.”

 

Nicole’s voice startles Waverly, who’s wrapped herself in what looks like every blanket she owns. She smiles at the sight of Nicole rounding the back of the Jeep, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

 

“Did you really think you’d be able to give me the slip that easily?” Nicole asks as she climbs in beside Waverly. She pulls a heavy wool blanket over her lap and puts an arm around Waverly’s shoulders.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Waverly says, burying herself against Nicole’s chest. “I just…don’t know how I’m supposed to do this. I can’t leave you.”

 

“I know, baby.” Nicole says. She brushes a stray tear from Waverly’s cheek and wills herself to not break down again. The hand that isn’t holding on to Waverly goes to her jacket pocket, where she fumbles with her gloved hand before pulling out the box she’d brought with her from her desk.

 

“Nicole, what the-” Waverly begins, but stops short when she sees what Nicole is holding. “What are you _doing_?” She breathes.

 

Nicole flips open the lid of the box, the same way she’s done so many times when Waverly wasn’t looking.

 

“You said earlier that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me.” Nicole hears her voice shake as she tries to keep her emotions under control.

 

“I meant it, Nicole, I really did.” Waverly’s eyes flicker back and forth between the ring Nicole is holding out to her and Nicole’s eyes, which are wide and soft and totally full of love.

 

“Well…” Nicole’s voice grows thick with emotion and the tears she’s trying so hard to hold back, “if it’s the end, then I want you to know how much I love you. And if it’s not…” Nicole sighs, “I guess I’ll have to accept that sometimes the best-laid proposal plans get derailed by a near-apocalypse.”

 

Waverly beams up at her, and this time it reaches her eyes.

 

“Is that a-”

 

“Of course, you giant dork.” Waverly flings her arms around Nicole’s neck as she kisses every part of Nicole’s face she can get to-- not an easy feat, given the weight and bulk of the blankets on her lap. She lingers with her arms around Nicole’s neck, and feels Nicole wrap her arms tightly around her waist.

 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this,” Nicole says. She kisses the tip of Waverly’s nose and grins sheepishly, a flush starting to creep up her cheeks. “I’ve had that ring in my desk for months. Now take off these mittens so we can see how it looks.”

 

Waverly immediately untangles herself from Nicole and removes the offending outerwear. Nicole goes to slip the ring, a twisted white gold band surrounding a single diamond, onto Waverly’s left hand, but they both stop short at the sight of the huge, black ring that still seems to be fused to Waverly’s ring finger.

 

“It’s okay,” Nicole murmurs, taking Waverly’s right hand instead, “It’s only temporary.”

 

Waverly hears the hopeful note in Nicole’s voice. She still has faith that Jeremy or Wynonna will find them a way out of this, but Waverly has a sinking feeling that their only way out is wandering somewhere in the woods outside the Ghost River Triangle.

 

***

 

Waverly and Nicole sit together, talking and laughing and occasionally crying, until the first streaks of sunset start to paint the sky over the mountains.

 

Nicole checks her phone and sees that Wynonna has texted her about a dozen times in the last hour.

 

“Shit!” Nicole hisses. “Wynonna’s trying to lure Bulshar out into the open and away from the Garden. Christ…why does she always have to pick Main Street?” She mumbles darkly.

 

“Go,” Waverly says. “You’ve got everyone in Purgatory counting on you now, Sheriff. I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

 

She’s right. As much as Nicole just wants to run away into the mountains with Waverly, she has a responsibility to protect Purgatory that extends way beyond their small circle of demon fighters. She kisses Waverly one last time and heads back to her cruiser, her heart sinking with every step.

 

Nicole cries the whole way back to the station, willing herself to get it all out of her system for the moment so she can focus on doing her job. She radios in instructions to her patrol officers in the moments where she can catch her breath enough to get out a sentence.

 

Wynonna is waiting for her in the office, and she looks like she’s on the warpath. Nicole just raises a hand when Wynonna tries to pounce on her for being gone, and Wynonna stops, surprised by her lack of fight.

 

“Wynonna, I can’t be a part of this,” Nicole says, suddenly overcome by exhaustion and an overwhelming sense of defeat. “I’ve got a town to evacuate and…”

 

“I get it, Haught.” Wynonna puts an arm around Nicole’s shoulders and sighs deeply. “We’ve both got jobs to do.”

 

***

 

The eerie light of the blood moon illuminates the inside of Nicole’s cruiser as she fights to stay awake on the outskirts of town.

 

It’s over. She can feel it.

 

Purgatory is eerily quiet, thanks to her evacuation of the entire downtown. Even the coyotes that are usually out on the prowl late at night aren’t making noise.

 

Nicole grips the steering wheel so hard she imagines her gloved knuckles turning white.

 

_Just put the fucking car in drive, Haught_ , she thinks. _Go find her_.

 

But Nicole is frozen, paralyzed with fear at what might be waiting for her.

 

_Like that stupid cat experiment_ , Nicole thinks grimly, making a U-turn and heading away from town, toward the woods where she’ll find her answer one way or another.

 

The woods are deserted and just as quiet as the rest of Purgatory. There’s not so much as a rustle in the trees as Nicole follows the footprints in the snow to the site of those mysterious stairs.

 

Except the stairs are gone.

 

The stairs are gone, and something catches Nicole’s eye in a nearby tree. Another envelope with her name on it stuffed between some branches. She grabs it and takes off running in the same direction she came, not wanting to spend another second in those godforsaken woods.

 

She drives too fast on the slick back roads, occasionally eyeing the unopened envelope she’s tossed onto the passenger seat.

 

She doesn’t have to open it to know what she’s going to find.

 

_She’s gone_.

 

The second Nicole lets the words enter her mind, she has to stop short because her body starts shaking uncontrollably.

 

She stumbles out of the cruiser onto the side of the road, feeling her stomach churn violently like she’s going to be sick. Doubling over, one hand on the cruiser’s hood for support and the other clutching her stomach, Nicole vomits what little she’s eaten that day into the frozen grass.

 

_She’s gone._

 

Nicole’s screams rip through the night.

 

Her lungs burn from the cold air and her throat burns from exertion, but she doesn’t care.

 

_She’s gone._


	2. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos on Chapter 1! I couldn't just leave it hanging like that, so enjoy the resolution!

Nicole shows up to work the next morning, her voice nearly gone and looking as though she’s seen hell.

 

Which she has.

 

But she forces herself to shove aside her own emotions and get to work restoring order to Purgatory as best she can.

 

Somehow, everyone in the office knows the previous night’s events were something not of this world, even in spite of the official story everyone was fed. Nicole hears the word “demons” at least half a dozen times before lunch, and every mention makes her heart lurch.

 

And everyone knows that _something_ happened to Waverly Earp.

 

Nicole forces herself to do the most mundane tasks she can think of, finding every excuse not to leave her office and even more to avoid even looking at the last message Waverly left her, now stowed away in the same drawer that once hid a ring.

 

“Every excuse” runs out entirely too soon, and soon enough, Nicole finds herself staring at Waverly’s handwriting spelling out her name in purple ink.

 

She opens it, and it’s like someone’s just rubbed a handful of salt in a gaping flesh wound. Clearly, Waverly had written it later than her first one-- possibly right after Nicole left her in the Jeep-- because the two sentences are shaky and there are tear stains smearing the ink just slightly.

 

_There was no other way._

 

_I love you._

 

That’s all it takes to push her over the edge. She practically runs out of the station, muttering something about “not feeling well,” and no one questions her because they all know.

 

She stops off at the liquor store on her way home for the cheapest whiskey she can find-- _all the quicker to get drunk on_ , she thinks as she makes polite conversation with the cashier.

 

Before she even starts her car, Nicole takes a long swig, savouring the way the whiskey burns her already raw throat.

 

***

 

The old sayings are right-- the first night without her is the hardest. But as days pass, then a week, then ten days, Nicole decides it’s all bullshit.

 

_She’s gone._

 

_You couldn’t save her._

 

When Wynonna shows up at her house on day five, reeking of the same cheap whiskey and accompanied by a haggard-looking Jeremy, Nicole doesn’t even make eye contact.

 

Instead, she pours them each another drink.

 

***

 

Nicole can’t sleep in her bed.

 

She gives up her spare bedroom to Wynonna and the couch to Jeremy-- who won’t leave, no matter how angry they get or how firmly they insist they don’t need babysitting-- and she’s spent every night since Wynonna showed up on the floor of the spare bedroom in a sleeping bag.

 

And it doesn’t even matter, because when you’re going to bed drunk every night, comfort isn’t exactly the top priority.

 

They both pretend not to hear the other’s sobs late into the night.

 

Somewhere around day eight, Wynonna finally decides to acknowledge Nicole’s presence.

 

As Nicole’s bending over to unroll her sleeping bag, Wynonna grabs her wrist.  
  
“You shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor.”

 

At Nicole’s confused expression, Wynonna flips back the blankets on the other side of the bed. “Plenty of room, Haught.”

 

Nicole crawls into bed beside Wynonna and turns her back to the other woman in the dark. It feels wrong, even though Wynonna’s her best friend, to be sharing a bed with anyone other than-

 

“I miss her.”

 

Wynonna’s voice breaks the silence again, thick with whiskey and tears. Nicole rolls onto her back, so she and Wynonna are lying shoulder-to-shoulder, both staring at the ceiling.

 

“You’re all I’ve got left, Wynonna. You and… _Chetri_.”

 

Wynonna lets out a noise that’s somewhere between a laugh and a sob and Nicole can’t help it-- she’s _laughing._

 

It doesn’t take long for her laughter to spread to Wynonna, and they’re somehow laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation is. How they could have fallen so far in such a short time that it’s just Nicole, Wynonna, and Jeremy left.

 

Eventually, the tears of laughter turn to tears of anguish as their reality settles back over them.

 

Wynonna reaches out for Nicole’s hand, startling her.

 

“We’re gonna get her back, Haught. We have to. I can’t…” Nicole feels the shudder pass through Wynonna’s body at her words. “I can’t keep going without her.”

 

“We have to.” Nicole whispers.

 

Because she’s not sure she can keep going either.

 

***

 

When Michelle Gibson finally reappears, Nicole has to physically restrain Wynonna so she doesn’t beat her own mother to a pulp.

 

“ _You left us! AGAIN!_ ” Wynonna screams, trying to launch herself off Nicole’s front porch at the other woman.

 

“ _Damn it Wynonna!_ ” Nicole cries. When simply restraining her upper body doesn’t work, Nicole lifts the smaller woman off the ground entirely, leaving nothing for her to attack but the air around them.

 

“She left! She left and _now Waverly’s gone_!”

 

Wynonna’s last words come out ragged and full of anguish, and Nicole can tell she hasn’t said them out loud because she stops fighting Nicole and just collapses in her arms.

 

Judging by Michelle’s expression, it isn’t news to her.

 

“That’s what I came to talk to you girls about.”

 

Her voice is so steady, Nicole feels her own blood pressure start to rise.

 

_Your daughter’s gone! How can you be so goddamn_ CALM _?_ She wants to scream.

 

“I found him. I found Julian. Now let’s go.”

 

***

 

Nicole makes up a bullshit excuse for not following Michelle out into the woods, but the truth is, she’s scared.

 

Scared of what she might do to Julian if she saw him in person.

 

That their plan might not work.

 

Of getting her hopes up.

 

Wynonna sees right through her excuse and shoots her a look as she leaves, but Nicole just shrugs.

 

She can’t handle the thought of getting her hopes up, only to never see Waverly again.

 

That might break her entirely.

 

So Nicole stays behind, an outsider once again. She finishes the bottle of whiskey sitting on the coffee table and stumbles upstairs to the spare bedroom, where she promptly passes out cold.

 

***

 

Nicole’s pounding headache is what eventually wakes her up, and she realises that the whole house is dark.

 

_They’re not back_ , she thinks, sitting bolt upright. Her head protests immediately, and Nicole feels panic grip her chest as she listens for any signs of life outside the bedroom.

 

Nothing.

 

Nicole decides to take a shower, _then_ try to get in touch with Wynonna, because she seems to be sweating whiskey and it’s making her feel sick.

 

Nicole lets the shower run over her until there’s no hot water left. She’s pulling a vaguely clean t-shirt over her head when she hears noise outside that stops her dead.

 

It sounds like a car door opens and closes in her driveway, but Nicole decides she must be hearing things. She flops back down on the messy, unmade bed and curls up once again, hoping she can sleep through the monster hangover brewing in her body.

 

There’s a glass of water and some ibuprofen on her nightstand when Nicole wakes up next, and in a groggy haze she sits up and chugs the water in one enormous sip. She gets up to see if she has any more sleeping pills left in her medicine cabinet, and stops dead when she hears someone moving around in her kitchen and sees the downstairs lights are all on.

 

“Jeremy? Wynonna?” Nicole asks tentatively as she descends the stairs, craning her neck to see who’s tiptoeing around her house.

 

Someone emerges from the kitchen and Nicole swears she’s hallucinating.

 

“W-Waves…?”

 

“Hey.” Waverly says quietly.

 

Nicole takes a step backward as Waverly steps forward, not convinced that this isn’t all a very vivid dream.

 

“It’s okay,” Waverly extends her hand out to Nicole.

 

“I must be…I can’t…this isn’t…” Nicole can’t seem to form a full sentence. She takes Waverly’s hand in her own, her fingers trembling as she feels the warmth from Waverly’s skin seep into hers. “Are you really here?”

 

Waverly just nods, her eyes brimming with tears.

 

Nicole lets out something along the lines of a joyful scream. She pulls the smaller woman into her and crashes her lips into Waverly’s, desperately seeking proof that the woman in front of her is in fact real and very, very much alive.

 

As she kisses Waverly hungrily, Nicole’s knees buckle underneath her and she sinks to the floor, bringing Waverly along with her.

 

“You’re real,” Nicole whispers, pulling away slightly to examine Waverly’s features. Waverly holds her upright with one arm and runs the fingers of her other hand through Nicole’s hair, only able to nod as she’s overcome with emotion.

 

Nicole sees a flash of silver and grabs Waverly’s hand. Her ring is still around Waverly’s right ring finger.

 

“May I?” Nicole asks quietly, running her fingers over the stone gently.

 

Waverly nods. With trembling fingers Nicole slips the ring off Waverly’s right hand and onto her left and, in that moment, nothing else matters.

 

She’s back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks to [@blankagenda](https://twitter.com/blankagenda) for making sure everything worked and came together coherently!
> 
> I have a lot of writing in the works that I plan on posting, but until then you can find me yelling about stuff on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/unsaltysaltines) and [Tumblr](https://sheriff-haughtpants.tumblr.com)!

**Author's Note:**

> There is absolutely resolution coming, but until then feel free to come yell/throw tomatoes at me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/unsaltysaltines) and [Tumblr](https://sheriff-haughtpants.tumblr.com)! I promise I don't bite.


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